16 and Pregnant: No Fairy Tale Ending

Published: January 21, 2008

We can diminish the trauma of teenage pregnancy, first and foremost by diminishing its incidence. ''Abstinence only'' should be ''use protection.''

Birth control, including the pill, should be available to students through the school nurse, and it should be free. Condoms should be so ubiquitous that they stop being embarrassing.

I'm not saying we should be encouraging teenagers to have sex, but so far our plan to discourage them from doing so has proved to be a colossal failure.

Accidents will happen, which for some will mean the travails of motherhood, while for others the emotional scars of abortion or adoption.

But in the United States, such accidents happen at a rate far higher than in other developed countries -- almost 10 times the rate in the Netherlands, where teenagers are no less promiscuous but practice safer sex.

We have to do more to support the young women who do get pregnant. But in the meantime, let's work to ensure that as few as possible face that life-altering experience.

Maria Ponomarenko
Redwood City, Calif., Jan. 13, 2008

To the Editor:

Caitlin Flanagan poses the question, ''Does the full enfranchisement of girls depend on their being sexually liberated?'' I would respond yes, in the sense that liberation means the freedom to say no, as well as yes, to engaging in sexual intercourse.

Ms. Flanagan then asks, ''And if it does, can we somehow change or diminish among the very young the trauma of pregnancy, the occasional result of even safe sex?''

I would respond yes, as well. We could diminish it by ensuring that pregnant teenagers have someone (preferably, but not limited to, her mother) supporting her through her decision to either abort, carry the pregnancy to term and relinquish the baby, or raise the child.

That's a tall order, but it could start with eliminating emotionally laden expressions like ''public shame,'' which Ms. Flanagan mentions when speaking of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies.

Amy Laiken
Chicago, Jan. 13, 2008

To the Editor:

Caitlin Flanagan asks whether a young girl's venture toward sexual experimentation is a mark of her liberation as a woman.

What drives young girls toward sexual behavior is not a sense of liberation, but rather an attitude of disillusionment: the belief that happiness is momentary, and is something that can only be bestowed on you by someone else.

Is this liberation? On the contrary, it is this very belief that explains why so many teenage girls experience depression and are psychologically ''trapped'' in an obsession with the body. They believe, as Ms. Flanagan writes, that ''biology is destiny.''

It is we, the older generation, who can guide these young girls to the path of true greatness. We can teach them that the greatest triumphs of history were achieved by those who knew that biology was not destiny.

Spirit, resolve, a sense of a higher purpose are destiny. What a wonderful, uplifting message to pass on to the next generation of young women.

Lauren Lieberman
Bronx, Jan. 13, 2008

To the Editor:

Caitlin Flanagan describes the movie ''Juno'' as a fairy tale because the protagonist gladly gives her baby away with no apparent negative psychological effects. I would argue that the greater fairy tale is that a 16-year-old would not, generally, get an abortion or try to get an abortion.

Yes, I'm sure that terminating a pregnancy can be traumatic at such a young age, but for most women an abortion done in the first trimester is not ''invasive or frightening'' and does not leave any lifelong costs.

The cultural myth of the trauma of early pregnancy termination is as powerful as any fairy tale about the ease of giving one's child away.

Jennifer S. Ringewald
Belvedere, Calif., Jan. 13, 2008

To the Editor:

As an obstetrician and gynecologist, I have made the reproductive health of women -- including the health of adolescent girls -- my priority.

In order to lower teenage pregnancy rates, we must educate both boys and girls and provide them with tools to navigate their developing sexuality.

We need to insist on sex education programs in schools that emphasize abstinence, but also give teenagers information on ways to protect themselves against pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Through role-playing and practicing negotiation skills, we can decrease the likelihood of consequences that will affect adolescents for the rest of their lives.

Improved access to both contraception and condoms will help ensure that sexually active teenagers stay healthy.